|
Gabrielatos, C. (1998). Translation
impossibilities: Problems and opportunities for TEFL. TESOL Greece Newsletter 60, 21-24. |
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction Translation
has a long history in English Language Teaching (Howatt,
1984; Richards & Rogers, 1986; 3-4) and is still employed
by a great
number of teachers in monolingual contexts, as well as some materials
writers. Translation is most frequently used as a convenient
shortcut when teaching vocabulary, by providing 'equivalents' in the learners' mother tongue.
Unfortunately, such practice creates a number of serious long-term
problems for learners. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, language is not a mere collection of words and grammar rules;
it is the expression of a culture. It embodies
the efforts of a language community to conceptualise
and interpret the world, as well as human experience and relations. As a
result, language reflects the complex 'personality' of
such a community. Therefore, language can only be interpreted and learned
with reference to a specific cultural context. Uncritical use of
translation, which does not take account of language idiosyncrasies resulting
from cultural factors will invariably lead learners to formulate in their
minds a non-existent relation between English and
their mother tongue (in our case Greek). As Kramsch (1993: 1) puts it, culture
... is always in the background, right from day one, ready to unsettle the
good language learners when they expect it least, making evident
the limitations of their hard won communicative competence, challenging their
ability to make sense of the world around them. Raimes
(1998: 11) provides a very clear example of how culture can unsettle a
language learner from her own experience
in learning Japanese: After
I'd laboriously learned to count to 20, I found out that Japanese has ... different words
for counting flat
objects ... or cylindrical objects. Secondly, translation as a teaching tool needs to take into account a
number of different aspects, such as grammar (e.g. transitivity of verbs), syntax, collocation
and connotation. Uncritical use of translation may
give learners insufficient, confusing or even
inaccurate information about the target language. In
this article I will examine: a. limitations of translation due to cultural
differences, b. pitfalls of its uncritical use, and c. ways in which
translation can contribute to foreign language learning. |
|
|
|
|
|
Key words L1,
mother tongue, first language, translation, interlanguage, English language
teaching, EFL, ELT, TESOL, language teaching methodology, linguistics,
applied linguistics. |
|
|
|
|
|
Relevant details This article is based on my talk entitled 'Translation
Impossibilities' given at the 19th Annual TESOL Greece Convention, 4 April
1998. |
|
|
|
|
|
Related
articles by the same author |
|
|
Gabrielatos, C. (2001). L1 use in ELT: Not a skeleton, but a bone of
contention. A response to Prodromou. Bridges
6, 33-35. |
|
|
Gabrielatos, C. (2001). L1 use in ELT: Not a skeleton, but a bone of
contention. A response to Prodromou. TESOL
Greece Newsletter 70, 6-9. |
|
|
|
|
